Interested in Soil Ecology and Biogeochemistry?
Gain an integrated perspective with world-renowned faculty to address critical questions using current analytical techniques, experimental approaches, and instructional models.  Topics include:
• What are the physical, chemical and biological components of soil?
• What do molecular techniques tell us about soil biodiversity?
• How does soil chemistry affect carbon and nutrient cycling?
• [...]

The weather is finally getting warm which means that we all want to spend more time outdoors getting UV irradiated by natural sunlight instead of under the fluorescent lightbulbs of our labs. That means saving time and working efficiently is of critical importance!
Now is the perfect time to streamline your workflow and find ways to do more with less [...]

As part of our research on the best practices for soil microbial DNA extraction, we collect a wide variety of samples for product development. So when we were developing the protocols for the PowerLyzer, we wanted a protocol that worked for most of the samples tested.  Our work on homogenization and bead tubes previously showed that depending on the [...]

MO BIO recently launched a method for the isolation of DNA and RNA from a very difficult sample type called biofilm. In a previous article, we explained some of the difficulties associated with working with biofilm and biomats. These sample types are not like any other environmental sample and require specialized chemistry to break through the EPS [...]

 Our last three soil articles were focused on how to get DNA from soil. In great detail we covered the topics of homogenization and the chemistry (and specifically the lysis solutions) needed to isolate high yields and purity DNA.   Working with DNA is far less stressful compared to working with RNA.  Yields are always higher and there is no [...]

MO BIO Laboratories is an ardent supporter of science education at all levels.  So when we heard about the pioneering soil microbiology classes being taught by Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, & Molecular Genetics at UCLA, Erin Sanders-Lorenz, we had to know more.

I thought this would be a good week to help set the record straight on some popular misbeliefs about quantifying DNA (and RNA) yields and purity and especially when working with environmental samples like soil.
Problems achieving high yield and purity are exaggerated in environmental samples because of the added complexity of  microorganism lysis and inhibitor removal.  Quantifying the nucleic [...]

Today we’ll pick up where we left off with our discussion on how to maximize the yields of DNA from soil. We have now thoroughly covered the subject of sample homogenization and the importance of the bead type, equipment, and lysis buffer. You can see that the lysis step is the most involved and the best [...]

In a previous article I wrote a short primer on soil molecular biology, introducing some of the issues surrounding isolation of DNA and RNA from soil samples, such as PCR inhibitors and lysis considerations. Today I will go into greater detail on the isolation of DNA from microbes in soil and how to optimize your [...]

One of the most difficult sample types we work with in our labs is soil. When developing products and methods for isolation of microbial DNA and RNA from soil, we have to take into account the wide diversity of soils in regards to their organic content, texture, pH, and where the soil was collected. These [...]